Kallicharan: The flood victims will appreciate it

KIRSTAN Kallicharan, a resident of Piarco, said the TT flood victims would appreciate everyone who attended the Disaster Relief T20 2018 Cricket With Heart match at the Queen’s Park Oval in St Clair, on Saturday night.

Kallicharan lined up for FCB (First Citizens) North against National Lotteries Control Board (NLCB) South. South won the match by 20 runs.

Kallicharan, who represented the West Indies Under-19 team earlier this year, got a close view of the floods in St Helena and Kelly Village over the past month, as Piarco is just a short distance away.

“Coming out and spending our time on the field to support the flood victims (is great). I live very close to where the flood happened. It did not affect me, but I live very close and I went to look at it and it was very sad to see what people have to go through. It is a new life for them. I think it was great to have this game and I think the support from the people who came out would be greatly appreciated by the flood victims,” Kallicharan said.

Kallicharan said a lot of people work hard to provide a quality life for themselves and their family, and very quickly it could be lost. “You spend your life working towards something and all of a sudden you could lose it in a few minutes.”

Kallicharan was happy to play among top local cricketers.

“It is nice to come out and play cricket among the big stars of cricket such as Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine. It is a great feeling,” Kallicharan said.

Left-arm spinner Khary Pierre, who was also part of the North team, was glad to play his part.

He said, “It is really good to give back, a lot of people have been affected by the floods and this game we gave out a lot as well.”

Pierre was part of the TT Super50 team that donated their match fees from one of the matches in the Regional Super50 tournament in October to the flood victims.

Pierre said, “We also gave out match fees (with) the TT Super50 team. This game also helps...a lot of people were affected (and) lost a lot of stuff with the floods so it is really good to give back.”

Pierre, who recently made his debut for West Indies, said some of the players who took part in the match had family members who were affected by the flooding.

“There were a couple guys who had family members who were affected in some of the areas, so that is also challenging for them, so it is good we could come out here and help them as well.”

It was not a large turn-out at the Oval, as between 200 and 300 people attended. Pierre said some people probably were occupied with other commitments, but was grateful to the people who attended the match.